Asking the clergy about social media

Have social media such as Facebook or Twitter come into play in your congregation?

Rabbi Alan Lavin, Farmingdale Wantagh Jewish Center, Wantagh:

Over the last few years, our synagogue has increasingly embraced electronic media. Our monthly newsletter is sent out through email. We also have an active website.

There is a lot of communication between myself and the congregation, and within the congregation through Facebook. We meet using Facebook several times a week. I post articles on Facebook. We also send out YouTube videos. We have not gotten involved with Twitter.

There's a lot more that we could do and will do in the coming months. Former congregants have found me through Facebook to perform weddings and funerals. It can be easier than playing phone tag. I think it will become more prevalent, not less. There still is a great deal of potential that we haven't tapped. Even so, not everyone is on Facebook. If we really want to get the word out, we use a phone tree.

The Very Rev. Richard Simpson, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Islip:

We have our own Facebook page, which has a link to our website. It has become one more vehicle for sharing and communication. If there's any problem, many of our elderly are not on social media, so we still have to do it the old-fashioned way, face-to-face, which in the long run is best.

Just last Sunday in the adult confirmation class, we were having a discussion about people talking to one another. One of the older members said what a shame it was that young people don't talk to each other. They're always texting.

We have to recognize the generational differences. We're taking part in more communication, not less. My phone is always on. If you want to connect to young people, you have to do it electronically. I don't think it is an either/or situation. I would rather they not text during worship.

Social media are tools that enhance communication and our sense of community. I'm old enough that I grew up without computers. I don't miss the typewriter at all. You just have to ride the learning curve to keep up with kids.

Associate Pastor Samuel Sutter, Dix Hills Evangelical Free Church, Huntington Station:

It is a bit fuzzy here how we deal with social media. All of the ministers are on Facebook, and we have a Twitter account. And the church has a fan page.

I've seen a lot of really good stuff. My favorite thing is seeing one of our kids step up and encourage another who is having a rough day. I love it when it is kids and not the clergy doing the encouraging. We have a page, and we talk about what is going on in the congregation. We talk about bullying and what our young people can do to stop it. It is not a blog, but we're online talking to people.

We send out a Bible-reading schedule through social media. We encourage them to read passages of their choosing, and then come back and chat about it.

Another thing that has been cool is to watch people across the globe. We have friends who went to minister in Nigeria. One lady was ministering to people in the sex trade and asking us to minister and assist the girls. We had a teacher who went to Chile to help during an earthquake and wrote back about the lack of electricity and other things she went through. Social media have made the world very small in some good ways.

Mary V. Larson, licensed minister, Mt. Sinai Congregational United Church of Christ, Mt. Sinai:

I'm still struggling with how to make Twitter work for us. Facebook has been quite successful, not just for use in the congregation, but in the community. We have people who are fans of ours who don't come to the church regularly, but come to our posted events such as open mic nights and dinners.

We have a mission cafe where people can post. We're working to make people feel comfortable doing so. I'll also put up worship information. When we had a snow day, this was a place where people could come for information. We also put our weekly reflections on the page.

We also have people who aren't here 12 months out of the year. They become fans and check in with us. We look at the social network more as being integrated with our website. As for the back and forth between the church and our fans, that is a work in progress.